My cashmere Haruni Shawl. How do I love thee! I love the soft, squooshy cashmere blend yarn. I love the rich turquoise colour, I love the airy crochet cast off that flows so beautifully out of the flower petal border...
This pattern is just flawless. I love how seamless and incredibly smooth all the transitions are. From the leaves in the body pattern to the border to the cast off... it's like a waterfall of beautiful lacy, petal-like shapes.
This shawl was knit on 4mm needles using TFA Purple Label Cashmere yarn in the Deep Sea colourway.
I knit a smaller version of this shawl. Instead of the recommended 12 repeats of the body pattern I did 10. That way I had just the right amount of yarn to knit this shawl with one skein. After a good blocking, it's still a very reasonable sized shawl. I'm petite, so I don't need/want massive shawls that overwhelm my frame, so this size is just fine for me. After blocking this shawl measures about 45" across and 24" from neck to tip. Just right!
I am a very big fan of aggressive blocking for most of my lace projects, specifically shawls. I'm sure that there are some instances when a gentle blocking is better, like if you were knitting a lacy garment that had to fit your body, but when it comes to me and lace shawls, I like to block it to within an inch of it's life! Especially when I'm working with a wool yarn (double especially if that wool is superwash) because I find that it always has a tendency to bounce back to a more relaxed shape anyways. So I block the lace wide open and then let it do it's thing.
This little bit of yarn is all that I had left after my cast off! I hadn't realized just how close I had come, but there is something extremely thrilling and gratifying in knowing that I used up almost every last inch of yarn for this project. I hate wasting yarn, hence my love of projects like this and this to use up leftovers!
Here's a tip, if you tend to knit a lot with blue/turquoise yarn, and you want a lovely coordinating backdrop for taking your FO shots, why not paint the door to your shed turquoise! But try not to do what I did and take your shots in the afternoon when the sun is shining bright and you get all these weird shadows over your face and knitting... it's not helpful.
Ravelry project page here.
Beautiful craftsmanship and yarn that does justice to an exquisite pattern! So how do you block your lacework within an inch of its life? Would you mind sharing your preferred technique?
ReplyDeleteAnother stunning shawl, and I love how the colors in this colorway shine through with the lace pattern.
ReplyDeleteI still adore this pattern, and will definitely be making myself (at least) one eventually. And the colourway? Divine.
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ReplyDeleteThe cashmere shawl is gorgeous!! You're making me want to knit that pattern so badly!! And it does look great in front of the turquoise door. I hear you about lighting- Guy and I try to take most of the photos just before sunset, and the lighting is like nature's airbrush. But it isn't always possible to get that good lighting.
ReplyDeleteI love this shawl, but every time I look at the pattern, I get intimidated! Clearly, I have to get over it and cast on.
ReplyDeleteYou've definitely convinced me that the haruni shawl is next to godly, and that yarn is the shade of blue I just love!
ReplyDeleteI'd be overjoyed to win that ball of cashmere beauty.
gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteYour shawl is stunning and so are you! *inspired to continue knitting my haruni*
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